Pasco sheriff warns agency is 'falling behind' on hiring deputies

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco is sounding an alarm when it comes to the number of deputies he can put on the street given the county’s explosive growth.

Nocco says not only is Pasco’s population outpacing the number he can hire, but that the county also needs to become more competitive when it comes to salaries.

“It’s a battle,” the sheriff told county commissioners Tuesday.

Nocco cited Pasco’s growth, given his current budget, and says his agency is struggling to keep up with other law enforcement agencies offering better salaries.

“Now, it’s even a tougher environment to compete in,” he said.

Sheriff Nocco used a restaurant analogy.

Pasco is popular, he said, but if service is slow, customers will complain. And the highly trained chefs — in this case, deputies — are leaving – to take their skills and training to other places with better pay.

“And that is a major issue as we talk about staffing,” he told commissioners.

Nocco pointed to numbers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement which show Pasco is 64 out of Florida’s 67 counties when it comes to deputies per thousand people.

He also said the agency is 55 out of 67 when it comes to public safety spending according to Florida Tax Watch.

[Theonedjneo]

Maybe he should stop assigning so many thugs to the harassment duty.

[beewalk]

A good cop shouldn't even associate with Sheriff Nocco not seek employment there

[mywhorled]

Maybe if the sheriff quit using his predictive policing policy and targeting innocent people with 4th amendment violations he would have good people willing to work for him.

[romanz]

Too many problems with sheriff's dept.

[kehenabeach]

Maybe people don’t want to work for a sheriff who violates peoples constitutional rights by their “Predictive Policing”! Just sayin!

[nunyaa]

There leaving cuz there running from lawsuits

[therealflorida]

Ask any retired or old officers the real truth about corruption.

[noblesavage]

The chief needs to resign and terrorize another town. All the lawsuits against the department will deplete all there funds

[mrsa]

NO...None wants to work for this sherriff! He is disgusting in harassing what he thinks will be future criminals!

[SecretWeaponShow]

If he didn’t put the pasco sheirff In billions due to lawsuits against him

[Celsor]

Too many problems with THIS department! The comments on their YouTube are Disabled, wonder why? Keep an eye on them!

[bill-qver]

Not surprising. Alot of these counties only pay 35-40K on the west coast which is a joke !! I don't blame them for leaving. Pasco is so overcrowded it is horrible. I never go there if I cannot avoid it.

[bmcouple]

Is the cops leaving because they want more pay or is it because Sheriff Nacco keeps letting bad officers, train rookies, and teaching on the wrong stuff, and not taking out the bad cops who illegally arrest the people who are following the law

[helifynoe]

WTF ? Is sheriff Knockoff still working there ? No wonder they are falling behind. They need a real sheriff, not a knockoff.

[thetedford]

I think the sheriff watched the minority report too much and maybe some resident evil because he named the unit “STARS”

[nunyaa]

Adrenochrome supliers . It's rumoured cocaine Chris an butt bandits are going to club fed . ✌️😜👍

[hunterhall]

When I looked at job postings recently it looks like they are only taking applications from those who have already put themselves through BLET/Academy, who are certified LEO. If they are willing to hire and sponsor for academy, I would love to apply.